Lê Quang Liêm advances to the third round of the 2025 Chess World Cup

Grandmaster Lê Quang Liêm maintains his strong performance at the 2025 Chess World Cup held in India.

Grandmaster Lê Quang Liêm demonstrated remarkable skill at the 2025 Chess World Cup in India by defeating the experienced player Baadur Jobava from Georgia to secure a spot in round three.

In the first leg of round two on November 4th, Quang Liêm played with the white pieces and agreed to a draw after 31 moves. In the second leg on the evening of November 5th, the top Vietnamese player switched to black pieces but showed solid and confident play throughout the game.

Using a tight defensive strategy combined with precise counterattacks, Quang Liêm forced the Georgian opponent to concede defeat after 22 moves.

This result earned Quang Liêm an overall victory of 1.5 to 0.5, officially advancing him to the third round. His next opponent will be the winner of the match between Jeffery Xiong (USA) and Daniil Aleksandrovich Yuffa (Spain).

With this win, Quang Liêm remains the sole representative of Vietnam still competing in this year's World Cup, after young player Bành Gia Huy was eliminated in the first round. Advancing to round three also earns Quang Liêm a prize of $11,000 and helps maintain his upward trajectory in the international rankings.

Currently, Lê Quang Liêm holds an Elo rating of 2,729, ranking 13th in the world and is one of the top seeds in the tournament. Although he will not participate in the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand later this year, he continues to be a major source of pride for Vietnamese chess on the global stage.

The 2025 Chess World Cup features 206 of the strongest players worldwide competing in a knockout format, with a total prize fund of $2 million, including $120,000 awarded to the champion. The event is scheduled to conclude on November 27th.